Automatically-operated stringed musical instrument.



No. 678',3|9. l Patented luly 9, |90I.

D. K. MARSHALL. AUTOMATIGALLY OPERATED STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Applioation led Max'. 5, 189B.)

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No. 678,319. Patented July 9, |90I. n. K. MARSHALL.

AUTOMATICALLY OPEBATED STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Application filed Mar. 5, 189B.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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No. 678,3I9. Patented lulv 9, 190|.

D. K. MARSHALL.

AUTOMATICALLY DPERATED STBINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Application led Mar. 5, 1898.) (No Model.) v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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UNITED STATES trios'.

PATENT vDANA K. MARSHALL, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TOCHARLES BROWN, OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATICALLY-OPERATED SIRINGED MUSICAL IANSIRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,319, dated July 9,1901.

Application filed March 5, 1898. n

T0 all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, DANA K. MARSHALL, of Manchester, in the county ofHillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Automatically-Operated Stringed MusicalInstruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatically-operated stringed musicalinstruments in which the performance is governed by aprogressively-moving actuator acting by means of pneumatic devices uponstring-vibrating devices and string-shortening fingers.

The invention consists in the improvements which I shall now proceed todescribe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, Figurel represents a rear view of an apparatus constructed in accordance withmy invention, being a vertical section through the casing of theapparatus. Fig. 2 represents a section through the casing, taken atright angles to the section shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents a sectionon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a detail section through aportion of the apparatus, which will be referred to hereinafter. Fig. 5represents a section on line 5 5 ofFig. 2.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

Referring to the drawings, in which I have represented my invention asapplied to a violin, though it will be understood that itis appli-cablein its entirety to other instruments of the violin class, c is thecasing of the apparatus, and h is an instrument mounted in the upperpart of said casing and secured by suitable means, preferably in` suchmanner as to be readily removed from its fixings. I provide as thestring-vibrating means two bands or belts c c, which may be termedbelt-bows and which extend across the instrument vat the point where thebow is usually applied to the strings. The said beltbows are mountedupon pulleys c' c', which are driven by suitable means, and devices areprovided whereby the lower reach of each belt-bow may be depressed, soas to make suitable contact with the strings. The pul- Serial No. 6 72,6 89. (No model.)

leys c are mounted upon two standards c2 c2 and are arranged to berotated through the medium of driving-belts c3 c3, passing aroundpulleys which are mounted upon a drivingshaft c4, which latter is driventhrough suitable intermediate devices by an electric motor d, arrangedin the lower part of the casing. e c e e are four arms pivoted to thestandard c2 and engaging the belt-bows at their outer ends, as shown inFig. 3. In the arrangement which I have shown in the drawings eachbelt-bow controls two of the strings of the violin. When either one orthe other of the two arms c controlling each belt-bow is depressed,oneor the other of said strings will be vibrated; and when both arms aredepressed both of the strings will be vibrated. Springs e e' areprovided for raising the outer ends of the arms'e, so as to normallymaintain the belt-bows out of contact with the strings. The belt-bowsbeing continuously driven, it will be seen that by operating the arms e,as described, the strings can be vibrated with substantially the sameresults as when a bow is used.

f f, Fig. 2, designate aseries of string-shortening fingers or dampers,which may consist of small blocks or buttons of wood or other suitablematerial, shod with material, such as felt or leather. The said fingersare arranged above the strings at suitable points and are adapted to bedepressed thereon to produce the proper note or notes-in a string orstrings when the same is vibrated by one of the belt-bows c, thusperforming the same function as would be performed by the tips of theyfingers of a performer. Each finger or damper Vis attached to the end ofa linger-rod f', and the several finger-rods are attached to a series ofsmall individual bellows g g,which I will hereinaftertermpneumaticsSprings f2 f2 act to normally keep the iingersf out of` contact with thestrings. The pneumatics g in the arrangement shown are adapted to beoperated by suction, and when the sides of any one of them are drawntogether the corresponding finger is operated, so as to press a stringagainst the finger-board of the violin. The fingers, as here shown, arethirty-two in number, this being sufficient to cover the range ofordinary musical compositions; but

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the number ol' fingers may of course be increased or diminished, ifdesired.

Four individual pneumatics or bellows g', similar in action to thepneumatics g, are provided for operating the arms e of the beltbows,being connected to said arms by means of rods 7i 7L.

All of the pneu matics g and g are operated by a set of threesuction-bellows te', mounted in the lower part of the casing ct andcontinuously driven by the motor CZ. It is obvious, however, that withslight alterations in the construction of the pneumatics blower-bellowscould be used instead of suction-bellows.

Suitable main wind-pipes '1l' lead from the bellows to a wind-chestj.(Shown in transverse section in Fig. 4t.) The lower part of thiswind-chest consists of a single chamber j', which is kept constantlyexhausted by the three bellows t'. The upper part of the windchest isdivided by suitable partitions into a number of individual chambers orsections ji, corresponding to the several pneumatics g and g' andcommunicating with said pneumatics by means of tubes j ji, these tubesbeing shown broken ofi' at the left of Fig. l. From each of the chambersy2 two wind passages or ports 7'4 and j; lead to thechamberj' and theoutside air, respectively. The several portsj'1 are controlled byflap-valves 7c 7, normally held closed by springs lt" 7e', and theseveral ports are controlled by nap-valves m m. The valves 7s and m areconnected in pairs by means of rods k2 k2, the arrangement being suchthat when the port j is open the port is closed, and vice versa. It willbe seen that when a downward movement is given to the valve 7u the portcovered by said valve will be opened and the corresponding portjf,leading to the outside air, closed, so that a free passage isestablished between the particular pneumatic g or g corresponding tothese valves and the chamber j'. This action by reason of the exhaustionofthe chamber y causes a suction to be exerted upon said pneumatic g org and causes the finger f or arm e to which it is connected to bedepressed.

The several valves 7.: are connected by rods ,7c3 to the rear ends of aseries of pivoted levers n, whose front ends are arranged to contactwith a suitable actuator. This actuator, as here shown, consists of abarrel o, continuously driven by the motor d and having teeth, pins, orprojections o oon its surface, these teeth being adapted to engageprojections vt' upon the ends of the levers 1t and to cause said ends ofthe levers to be raised and depressed, thereby opening and closing thevalves in the wind-chest.

The teeth o' on the cylinder are arranged in accordance with apredetermined program, corresponding to the notes of a tune, this tunebeing' produced on the strings of the violin by the operation of theingersf and beltbows c through the medium of the intermediate mechanismdescribed above.

I do not confine myself to the details of construction above described,as the same may be variously modified without departing from the spiritof my invention; nor do I confine myself to the use of the wind-chest jor its equivalent and the connected parts in connection with a violin orinstrument oi' the violin class, as the same may readily be applied by askilled mechanic to other automatically-operated wind instruments.

It is obvious that a perforated sheet or strip or other suitable form otactuator differing from that shown could be employed to actuate thepneumatics or bellows which operate the belt-bows and string-shorteningfingers.

I claiml. An apparatus of the character' specified, comprising strings,a belt-bow extending across and adjacent to a plurality of strings,means for driving the same, and automatically-operated pneumatic devicesfor varying the inclination of the path ot travel ot' the bow to applyit to and remove it from one or more of the strings.

2. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising strings, abeltbow extending across and adjacent to a plurality of strings, meansfor driving the same, automatic means for varying the inclination of thepath of travel of the bow to apply it to and remove it from one or moreof the strings, a series of string-shortening lingers, andautomaticallyoperated pneumatic devices for actuating said lingers.

3. An apparatus of the characterspecilied, comprising twooppositely-inclined belt-bows crossing each other, means for drivingsaid bows, and pneumatic devices Ylor varying the position and angle ofsaid bows.

4. An apparatus of the character speci lied, comprising a lever, aprogressively-moving actuator mechanically controlling said lever, awind-chest having two compartments, a valve controlling a passagebetween said compartments, a second valve controlling an outlet from oneof said compartments, the said valves being positively connectedtogether and operated by the lever in such .manner as to close one whileopening the other, a stringoperating device a bellows for controllingthe same, connected with the compartment having the outlet, andwind-producing means connected with the other compartment.

5. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a belt-bow, meansfor driving it, and automatic means for varying the angular position orplane of movement of the bow to apply it to and remove it from a stringor strings of a musical instrument.

6. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising twooppositely-inclined belt-bows crossing each other, means for drivingsaid bows, and means for varying the position and angle of said bows.

7. An apparatus of the character specilied comprising an inclinedbelt-bow, movable in a plane across a plurality of strings, means IOOfor driving it, and means for varying the inclination of the bow toadapt it to a string or to a plurality of strings.

8. An apparatus of the character specilied i 5 comprising twosupporting-standards, pulleys mounted thereon, a belt-bow extendingacross the strings of a musical instrument and supported by saidpulleys, oscillatory arms engaged with parts of said bows for de- Ioiiecting said parts, and means for moving said arms to vary the positionof the belts.

9. An apparatus of the character specified comprising twosupporting-standards, pulleys mounted thereon, a belt-bow supported15`by said pulleys, oscillatory arms each having two pulleys arranged atopposite sides of one of the stretches of the bow, and means for Intestimony whereof I have aiiixed my sge nature in presence of twowitnesses.

DANA K. MARSHALL. Witnesses:

WM. A. PUTNAM, FRANKLIN FREEMAN.

